She'll be apples as harvest gets underway

Tasmania’s apple harvest is just getting underway and for fifth generation orchardist Jorden Distill that means a busy few months ahead.

Mr Distill is a director in the family’s Spreyton Fresh business which also includes the now well-known Spreyton Cider Co.

The family grow cherries and apples in their orchards at Spreyton and this year’s apple harvest is about to get into full swing.
“The season for us is looking pretty good,” Mr Distill said.

“We haven’t had much rain so that does impact the fruit size but luckily a lot of our trees have irrigation so we’re watering as much as we can and getting ready for harvest to start up properly.”

The family grow a number of cider apple varieties, which Mr Distill said they have already started picking.

They will also be soon harvesting pears for their cider business before harvest of the main eating apple varieties gets underway.

The family were the second apple growers in the Spreyton district when the then fledgling industry was just starting out in 1902.

Mr Distill said they now have about 25ha under apple trees.

“Once picking really starts we’ll be flat chat,” he said.

“We do have a small break in between finishing our Gala and then starting our Pink Ladies.”

Mr Distill said they do graft on new varieties if needed as consumer trends change but at the moment the Gala apples are still proving very popular.

“Gala seems to be really strong,” he said. “It’s a really good apple, good crunch, high sugar content and it’s a real crowd pleaser. It grows at a consistent size and it’s easy to control.”

The family grow about 3000 bins of apples each season.

About 1000 of those bins are used for juice and Mr Distill said of that about 800 bins are now used for cider production.

Of the 2000 bins for table fruit most of that is sent to a Victorian packing house and wholesaler.

Mr Distill said because apples are sold throughout the year prices can vary from season to season.

Harvest will get into full swing in the next couple of weeks and Mr Distill said it will continue through until at least mid-April.

The family built the in the Spreyton Cider Co processing facility and cellar door in 2012.

Since then, they have steadily increased their cider production and now produce just under 250,000 litres a year across their whole range.

They have also recently expanded the café area of the cider building to cater for the large number of visitors they get each week.